The Transitive Property Of My Religion

Coming back to the blogging-sphere has been something I have wanted to do for months.  Taking all the things I have to say about this world and finally channelling them out here.  To do that, I decided to start a little local.  This post has been inspired by my recent and temporary move into a little place with a very pervasive sub-culture of its own.  A sub-culture in which a person like me does not really fit in.  I won’t go into all the little details of its sub-culture (or why it isn’t something I want to be a part of...although I will list some) because it isn’t necessary for this entry, but the name of the school gives away the most necessary ingredient to this little college campus:  Olivet Nazarene University.  Here are some of the implicit rules of this school:

1. You are Christian
2. You are protestant
3. You are pro-life
4. You want to one day (hopefully, soon) be married in a heterosexual relationship
5. You are republican (although I have recently become aware of a democrat group on campus, but the fact that I spent a year and a half here before becoming aware of its existence speaks for itself)
6. You believe in very “traditional” roles for men and women
7. You believe women are responsible for controlling men’s “lust” (this rule is actually more explicit, but I needed to mention it)

...To name a few.  If items 2-7 are a product of item number 1 then I can proudly tell you I am not one.  And most people here besides my close friends think that makes me very very wrong, and probably less of a person.  That was mostly just to give you an idea of what I am surrounded by right now.  I do not consider those things to be related, so Christianity isn't necessarily ruled out for my religion.  (The problem is I am required to attend chapel where the likes of that list are preached).  

Sitting in chapel yesterday (having tuned out after the opening of the sermon began with a sexist story about nagging, love-thirsty women) I began to contemplate once again my own religious beliefs.  When I was young, and to some extent still today, I had a craving for spirituality and I have only recently began to understand why that spirituality manifested in being highly attached to my United Methodist church, its youth group, and the Christian God. 


It seems obvious, being the granddaughter of a Christian pastor, why I attached myself to Christianity and not Judaism or Hinduism or any other religion.  But even more than that Christianity is the dominant religion in our world (especially my hometown where the only thing close to the amount of Christian churches was the amount of fast-food restaurants) and we all know that being a part of any dominant group awards one privileges.   Privileges I wanted.  For example, being comfortable when my school says prayers before events, having my school celebrate and honor my religious holidays, not being made fun of by other kids for my religion, actually having a group in my town with my religious beliefs substantial enough to have the resources for a place of worship and programs for kids, etc.  Religion can also provide a community (as long as you fit our standards) and an in-group.  Being a part of a youth group and having strong adult and peer relationships during a time of crisis, such as middle/high school was of great importance in my development.  Having a community as strong, accessible, consistent, and with as many resources as some churches is a great advantage to people. 

The unfortunate thing I have discovered is that it isn’t accessible to all people.  I was recently talking to my roommate about the marketing business of churches and I can’t help to apply it here...it’s my experience that you will be hard pressed to find a church that advertises its discriminatory practices, but certainly not hard to find one that discriminates.  If you are welcomed into the church “as you are” you certainly won’t be able to stay that way comfortably.  Meaning, the church is out to convert.  Typically this refers to their politics and their biblical interpretations (which are completely subjective to their environment and cultural biases...the person after all cannot be taken from their context).

This is something I don’t want to be a part of.  I don’t want to convert anyone; I do want to learn from other people.  I want to be someone who is full of love and peace.  I want to challenge stereotypes I grew up with, not reenforce them.  And I don't want to claim any religion as my own without more study of what that religion actually stands for.  The community of a church is something I find right now in my friends and family.

My conclusions for myself...

1. God may or may not exist
2. If God exists, I would only want to follow God if God represented equality and truth
3. I am not worried about my current lack of acknowledgment of the God I am unsure of because I am constantly striving to learn truth and how to be a better person.  A person that cares for others and believes everyone is equal. 
4. I would like to explore other religions and truths they hold.  And to be aware of my own quality of life while learning new religious practices.
5. My religion can be broken down by the transitive property:
   I will continue to strive to live according to truth and equality
   and
   If, God = Truth and Equality
   Then, I will continue to strive to live according to God
   If God doesn’t exist then I simply live by truth and equality

Vampires Are The New Fashion Models

Nearly any sort of exposure to current popular culture would lead you to the recent Twilight/vampire craze. Targeted toward preteens/teens, Stephenie Meyer created a book series that has manifest itself into a myriad of media and propaganda (films, T-shirts, fan pages, action figures, etc.). For those unfamiliar with the series (in my own short summary) it is a story about Bella, a plain-looking awkward girl who moves in with her cop father in his small hometown of Forks, meets and falls in love with Edward, a forever 17-year-old vampire who lives with his adopted vampire family and their continuous adventures of love and near-death (for Bella) experiences. For a more detailed (and perhaps less apathetic) summary of the series you can read up on the series at Wikipedia.

Having read all four novels and viewed all three films, something I have picked up to be crucial to Meyer's story is the unmistakable perfection of a vampire. Perfection of beauty. Perfection of movement. Perfection of sound, scent (except from the werewolf perspective) and skills. Perfection that everyone wants to be: the ideal. To be fair, the majority of the four novels are read through Bella's perspective who could have a skewed view of vampires if you believe the whole "love is blind" cliche. However, I would argue that is not the case considering the many examples including the still idealistic dialogue from other characters, humans and vampires alike. Before Bella has ever met a vampire she recognizes the Cullen's (Edward's vampire family) perfect beauty. Further more, even if Bella were the only one to see the vampire perfection her perspective becomes the audience perspective. We view the vampires as she does, which can be none other than the most perfect form of beauty. Through this idealistic perspective our society learns much about the often impossible body they are supposed to achieve (Bordo). A structure of looking is created and particular bodies viewed as natural is reinforced (Robertson, July 12, 2010).

First, we need to look at a few characteristics of a vampire (according to the Twilight series and movies only). What I would consider most critical to this discussion is the vampire's pale skin. Using whiteness or pale skin for the ideal form of beauty contributes to a racialized gaze already present in our culture. Most frequently in film the only representations of people of color are either not to be idealized or a white-washed version of themselves (examples: light skin, straightened/dyed hair, etc.). This representation presents a new way to idealize whiteness and to create invisibility around it as a race. Because there is no reason vampires should be race specific, the fact that they are all presented as "beautifully pale skinned" says something about the unmarked identity of the white person (Robertson, June 23, 2010). Separate from the books descriptions of vampires, the movies cast one black actor to play a role of a vampire, but of course he is a villainous vampire who is killed off in New Moon, the second in the series. Discourse around the vampires skin includes its likeness to diamonds (high in value) and greek Gods (which in itself is idealistic of whiteness).

But cultural norms represented in Twilight do not stop with race. Twilight produces knowledge about gender roles and sexuality as well. Meyer uses the immortality (another example of their perfection outside of Bella's perspective) of vampires to reinforce conservative views of gender and sexuality. Each vampire has a mate in which they are nothing far from desolate without. These relationships are permanent and always heterosexual. Edward's "traditional" 1800s born character requires marriage before sex and in discussing the topic with Bella basically says he won't do anything else to "damn her soul" (which clearly sex outside of marriage is deserving of damnation). Because the majority of the vampires introduced in this series were born "long ago," that gives them the ability to stand true to their paternalistic views, which no matter their age are being reinforced present day. Bella's clumsy and awkward personality and her male counter-parts' strength and immortality in Edward's case and quick healing in Jacob's is an example of how the "weak" female/"strong" male dichotomy is naturalized. Although male and female vampires are equally strong, these characters stayed true to gender norms: Carlisle, the head of the household father; Esme, the sweet nurturing mother; Rosalie, the gorgeous high-maintenance girl (whose only desire is to be a mother and wife); Emmett, the strong, adrenaline-junky, sports loving, sexual jokes making guy; Alice, the dainty, sweet, shopping lover; Jasper, the charismatic leader; and of course Edward, the classic male saver-of-the-day romantic hero.

Another quality of a vampire considered ideal is their size. The only mention of "big" is never in reference to fat, but rather to bulk or muscle and the only thing plump about these characters is perhaps Rosalie's lips. Descriptions include "thin in the extreme" and "lanky" (but lanky obviously just meant skinny because the same character had "fabric [that] clung to his perfectly muscled chest"). The thin bodies cast in the movies are no contradiction to the importance of keeping fat taboo. There is an important focus on the vampires diets not including real food, but rather blood and their constant struggle to not eat what they want. Edward often chooses to go hungry and stay with Bella instead of going to hunt (choosing love over food is something that is quite relevant in such a fat hating society). Although seemingly quite positive that the Cullen's choose not to indulge their ultimate desire, human blood, it speaks to discourses about fatness and simply "resisting" the food you really desire in order to gain things like love and status.

The Cullens, besides their perfect features, have the "perfect wallet." It seems so strange to me with all the inhuman characteristics of vampires, they did not lose the "need" to be a consumer. Although in some ways their money is representative of years of hard work, their insistence for nothing less than the best is problematic. Their things, even more than their beauty, are representative of their power and status. The Cullens have nice things, fancy cars, gorgeous only-worn-once outfits, and an incredibly large house all of which is looked upon as necessary to reach perfection. They are even more beautiful because they have the accessories to match their bodies; money is the finishing touch that makes them all the more untouchable.

We can also see the effect of Bella's internalized gaze. Constantly living next to the ideal beauty of a vampire is in some ways a parallel to people living next to the media's projected images of beauty, yet nothing is mentioned of the negative effects of Bella's poor self-image and constant desire to become a vampire and stop being her awkward self. No matter how the others see her, Bella is self-conscious of her body and movement in comparison. On more than one occasion vampire's bodies are compared to something you would only see "on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine" and the figure you would see "on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue."

If we are to look at all bodies as Twilight looks at vampires our gaze is quite narrow. It is no surprise that the jump from magazines to vampires is so simple. If inhuman qualities are perfection then we will never be able to live up to them. If you don't eat, sleep, breathe, or age....you could be perfect too.

Bibliography

Bordo, Susan. (1997). "Never Just Pictures." Twilight zones: The hidden life of cultural images from Plato to O.J. University of California Press.

Robertson, Lindsey. "Privilege." June 23, 2010.

Robertson, Lindsey. "The Body and The Gendered Gaze." July 12, 2010.

Sexualized Superheroes

Superheroes, villains and comics have been around for a long time. Within the last several years, however, Hollywood has brought them into an even brighter, mainstream light. From the recently released Wolverine Origins (and its three respective X-men films) to the many makes of Batman, including The Dark Knight (which brought in over sixty-seven million in the box office on the first night of release back in July 2008) these types of movies have become quite popular. As any form of popular media, these images are prevalent in our daily lives and, even with the obvious fantasy world in which these heroes live, the images become our reality. The bodies, costumes, and even powers of these superheroes have represented our culture's ideal, particularly within gender roles.

These kinds of movies have an appeal to many with their mixture of action, romance, and the most important "good triumphs evil" ideology. Something as widely spread and well liked as a superhero should not be overlooked without studying critically the views that are being reinforced, recreated, or represented. As James Lull reminds us, "mass media's social influence is not always recognized, discussed, or criticized" (1995).

Let's first consider this image of Batgirl, Batman and Robin and what these characters costumes say about their masculinity or femininity. Much of Batman and Robin's costume is made solid, while Batgirl's crime fighting outfit is primarily some sort of stretchy form fitting material. It appears that the only solid parts of her costume include her breast cups and the tops of her thigh high boots (not seen in the picture; she sports solid high-heels as nearly all other female superheroes do). All characters are thin and toned. Batgirl's suit is ribbed, much like a corset, to enhance the flatness of her stomach and both Batman and Robin have muscles seemingly so defined, that they must be manufactured in their suits (it is a wonder Bruce Wayne doesn't have to manufacturer his shirts that way).

Frequent in the super world are female superheroes and villains portrayed as very sexual or seductive, most frequently in dress, but often in personality. Although it is important for women to understand that sexuality is something they are allowed to express, it contributes to a long standing representation of women: madonna versus the whore (Mayne). The super heroes may display their sexuality through their dress, but only the villains (or partial villain, in the case of Catwoman) are actually seductive.

Both Poison Ivy and Catwoman use a kiss to seduce and distract the male protagonist. I find it important to mention that both were, at least temporarily, successful. The message being sent to women here is that your sexuality is used for power and not pleasure. Power is something that any oppressed group is searching for, but this twisted form of control is not an appropriate way to teach women they should have equality--sexually or otherwise.

Catwoman may be on the extreme end with her ripped pants, completely exposed stomach, and the rest of her S & M garb (whip included), but there are many staples of the female super costume:

1) High-heels (obviously important for fighting or creating crime)

2) Form fitting costumes (costumes must accentuate breasts and buttocks)

3) Low-Cut, although completely skin tight, often on the male and female, female costumes often have a plunge at the neckline or zipper that is not completely zipped (X-men and Fantastic Four, for example):

With both heroes and villains, the super world has continually represented one idea of "sexy." Thin and white (or light-skinned, Jessica Alba, Halle Berry, i.e.). It is no wonder that the actress chosen to fill the role of the seductive Mystique, whose only costume as villain alongside Magneto in the X-men films is blue paint, is formal model, Rebecca Romijn:

The message is even more clear when these costumes are continuously used in the porn industry. Although the widely known female super hero Wonder Woman has yet to make a blockbuster, her outfit has been used many times and without much alteration, if I might add.

Let's not neglect masculinity as represented in these movies. As seen in many of the above images, the message to men about their masculinity is clear. They must be buff, they must be drawn to violence, and they must love and protect women. Male superhero costumes are made to make their arms, chest, and penis look big (without being fat).

Although thought to be a world full of alternate realities and identities, the super hero genre has served to reinforce heteronormativity and traditional gender roles with no representation of anything else.

Bibliography

Mayne, Judith. "Women, Representation, and Culture." In Reading Women's Lives.

Lull, James. (1995). "Hegemony." In Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach. New York: Columbia University Press.